College Football Notes Jan. 13-16

The 54th annual National Football Foundation MacArthur Bowl presentation to the BCS national champion was made to Alabama, head coach Nick Saban and support personnel last Tuesday morning at the Harbor Beach Marriott in Miami after Monday night’s 15th annual BCS title contest. Interestingly, Alabama (record seven national championships since ’59) and Notre Dame (five along with Southern California) are the most decorated MB kudos winners. NFF Chairman Archie Manning, President/CEO Steve Hatchell and COO Matthew Sign will be on hand for the annual festivities. Syracuse captured the first MacArthur Bowl trophy in 1959 and was followed by Minnesota in 1960, Alabama in 1961, Southern California in 1962, and Texas in 1963. The bowl memorializes Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the tri-founder of the National Football Foundation in 1947 along with Col. Red Blaik of Army and distinguished sports authority Grantland Rice. Coincidentally, Alabama also captured the 2012 Grantland Rice Trophy presented by the FWAA to its national champion since 1964 for a record sixth GRT.

The 2012 Liberty Mutual Coaches of the Year were announced at a media event at the Miami Hyatt Regency last week. The winners were FBS – Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Football Championship Subdivision – Willie Fritz, Sam Houston State; Division II – Peter Rossomando, University of New Haven; Division III – Glenn Caruso, University of St. Thomas (Minn.)…As part of Liberty Mutual’s partnership with the NFF, a selection committee of more than 50 NFF College Hall of Fame players and coaches, including Chairman Archie Manning, Lou Holtz, Vince Dooley, Ronnie Lott, Archie Griffin, as well as national college football media, such as Colin Cowherd, Stewart Mandel and Tim Brando, evaluated the coaches based on their responsibility, integrity and on-field success to help determine the four coaching winners. The winners in each of the four divisions will receive a $50,000 donation from Liberty Mutual to the charity or charities of their choices as well as a $20,000 scholarship grant in their name to their school’s alumni association. Since 2006, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award has helped donate more than $1.5 million to over 90 charities and college alumni scholarship funds through the 21 previous winners.
More BCS Notes:
– Alabama is the first repeat BCS winner (2011 and ’12) and the first school to win three BCS titles along with the 2009 campaign in the first 15 years of the standings (1998-2012). The ’12 Crimson Tide became the fourth consecutive team from the state of Alabama, including Auburn in 2010, to capture the BCS crystal.
– The five biggest leaps in BCS standings from week one to eight have been Colorado (unranked to No. 3 in 2001, 22 places), Michigan (unranked to No. 4 in 2003, 21 spots), Virginia Tech (from No. 25 to No. 8 in 2004, 17 positions), Wisconsin (No. 21 to No. 7 in 2006, 14 places), and Stanford (No. 20 to No. 6 in 2012, 14 places).
– A total of 48 different schools has participated in the 67 BCS games from the 1998-2012 (15) seasons. Latest members of this group are Northern Illinois in 2012 along as well as Clemson and Oklahoma State in 2011. Arkansas of the Southeastern Conference and Connecticut of the Big East made the grade in 2010 while other recent newcomers were Georgia Tech (2009 ACC champion), TCU (2009 MWC winner) and Cincinnati (Big East) in 2008. Hawai’i and Kansas joined the BCS fraternity in post-2007.
– The No. 2 team in final BCS standings is 8-7 (.533) against the No. 1 seed in the first 15 BCS crown contests, and the No. 2 teams were 6-2 in the eight games from 2002-09 with a .750 winning percentage and four consecutive BCS crowns from 2005-08. Top teams in the standings took two BCS crowns with Alabama in ’09 and Auburn in 2010 before No. 2 Alabama won in ’11 and ’12. No. 1 Southern California was another No. 1 entering the game to win all the marbles after the 2004 campaign (title later vacated). Going back to the Bowl Coalition (1992-94) and Alliance (1995-97 seasons), the No. 2 squads also are 10-9 (.526) since 1992 against No. 1. There were no final Nos. 1 and 2 matchups in 1994, ’96 and ’97 due to conference contractual tie-ins with major bowls. Alabama evened the Nos. 1 vs. 2 with its rematch victory over LSU in 2011.
– The top conference records by percentage in the 67 BCS bowls from the 1998-2012 seasons are Mountain West 3-1 (.750), SEC 17-8 (.680 – most overall wins), WAC 2-1 (.667, both victories by Boise State when it previously competed in that circuit), Pac-12 13-7 scoreboard (.650; 11-7 with two vacated games), Big East 8-7 (.533), Big Ten 12-14 (.462), Big 12 9-11 (.450), ACC 3-13 (.188), Independents (all games with Notre Dame) 0-4 (.000), and MAC 0-1 (.000). The MWC was undefeated in two BCS appearances by Utah before Boise State (then of the WAC) edged TCU of the MWC 17-10 in the 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. TCU was a member of the MWC and WAC before joining the Big 12 in 2012.
NFF College Hall of Fame Facts
Some key birthdates in NFF College Football Hall of Fame annals in the Jan. 14-20 time period are Jan. 14 (1908) Vernon Smith, Macon, Ga.; Jan. 15 (1892) Hobey Baker, Bala-Cynwyd, Pa.; (1898) Dutch Meyer, Ellinger, Texas; (1953) Randy White, Wilmington, Del.; (1957) Marty Lyons, Takoma Park, Md.; (1959) Ken Easley, Chesapeake, Va.; Jan. 16 (1882) Henry Phillips, Philadelphia, Pa.; (1894) Guy Chamberlin, Blue Springs, Neb.; (1914) Monk Simons, New Orleans, La.; (1953) Dave Brown, Akron, Ohio; (1977) Mark Simoneau, Phillipsburg, Kan.; Jan. 17 (1933) J.C. Caroline, Warrenton, Ga.; (1937) Buddy Dial, Ponca City, Okla.; Jan. 18 (1897) Eddie Kaw, Houston, Texas; (1950) Pat Sullivan, Birmingham, Ala.; Jan. 19 (1892) Eddie Mahan, Natick, Mass.; (1932) Joe Schmidt, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Jan. 20 (1929) Frank Kush, Windber, Pa.; (1960) Ronnie Mallett, Pine Bluff, Ark.
Anniversary death dates of Hall of Famers are Jan. 15 (1986) Jim Crowley, Scranton, Pa.; Jan. 17 (1974) Bill Shakespeare, Cincinnati, Ohio; Jan. 18 (1991) Hamilton Fish, Cold Spring, N.Y.; Jan. 19 (1942) Jimmy Johnson (Carlisle, Northeastern), San Juan, Puerto Rico; (1980) D.X. Bible, Austin, Texas.

Happy birthdays to NFF College Hall of Fame members Jan. 15 Randy White, Marty Lyons, Ken Easley, Jan. 16 Mark Simoneau, Jan. 17 J.C. Caroline, Buddy Dial, Jan. 18 Pat Sullivan, Jan. 19 Ronnie Mallett…
Air Force and Notre Dame have renewed their rivalry with a Oct. 26, 2013, skirmish at Colorado Springs, Colo.…Minnesota and New Mexico State are working to finalize a Sept. 7, 2013, engagement…Baylor and SMU now are scheduled to compete annually from 2013-19…Mississippi State and Southern Miss will renew their longtime rivalry in 2014 and ’15…Penn State and Rhode Island will not play in 2013…Alabama became the first BCS champion to tally 500 points in a season with 542 in 14 contests…The inaugural Raycom College Football All-Star Classic will be played at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., Saturday and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network at 2 p.m. (CST)…The 64th annual Senior Bowl All-Star Game will be contested in Mobile, Ala., Saturday, Jan. 26, with a live national telecast on the NFL Network…The Texas Against the Nation Football All-Star Game will be in Allen, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 2, at 1:30 p.m. (CST) with a Fox Sports Net telecast. For player updates and ticket information, please go to texasvsthenation.com…San Jose State notched its first postseason national rating in school history with 21st in both the AP and USA Today Coaches poll. The 11-2 mark for the Spartans was the most victories since the 1940 campaign…Ohio State football has added seven football players as the 2013 spring semester begins. Five are scholarship athletes, and two are new walkons for spring drills. OSU also has four 2012 seniors (and counting) in 2013 gridiron all-star clashes…Colorado administration and athletics officials have contacted alumni about support and possible new facilities for 2013 head coach Mike MacIntyre…From IFRA, 12 teams from all divisions came within 10 points of esteemed 500-point scoring club – Arizona, Arizona State, Ashland, Fresno State, Kutztown, Marshall, Minnesota State-Mankato, Missouri Valley, Nevada, North Dakota State, Oklahoma, and UCF. There were 28 teams with at least 500 markers in ’12, and the national record is 39…West Virginia scored 513 points and gave up 495 while just missing becoming the first collegiate team in the 500 scored-500 allowed in 13 games in the just-completed campaign.

Voting has opened for the 2013 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award given to a leader in college football, individual or organization, which has realized full potential to make a positive impact on the rare disease community. Please access www.upliftingathletes.org/rare-disease-champion/vote to vote through Jan. 31…LSU athletics donated tickets for recent events to active military veterans and their families…Nichols (Mass.) football student-athletes devoted 20-plus hours of community service in recent weeks for Hurricane Sandy cleanup and area charities…North Carolina athletics has released its five-year strategic plan.

U.S. Pres. Barack Obama called Alabama head coach Nick Saban with congratulations on the back-to-back BCS championships last week…Scott Shafer has been named head coach at Syracuse, and Nevada selected Brian Polian…UCLA head coach Jim Mora Jr. has received a one-year contract extension through 2017…NFF Membership Director Ron Dilatush presented 2012 NCAA and NAIA divisional championship trophies to four head coaches and their schools last week at the 93rd annual American Football Coaches Association Convention in Nashville, Tenn. The winners and schools included John F. Kennedy NCAA FCS Trophy – Craig Bohl, North Dakota State; Asa S. Bushnell NCAA DII Trophy – David Dean, Valdosta State; Amos Alonzo Stagg DIII Trophy – Larry Kehres, Mount Union (Ohio); and Dwight D. Eisenhower NAIA Trophy – Ted Karras, Jr., Marian (Ind.)…AFCA 2012 National Coaches of the Year are Kelly, Bohl, Dean, Glenn Caruso of St. Thomas (Minn.) (DIII), and Morningside’s Steve Ryan (NAIA)…Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer returned to the ESPN BCS commentary stage last week and conducted a media conference about the 12-0 season and offseason plans last week in Columbus…Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is remaining in his post with a probable upcoming contract realignment in South Bend…Clarence McKinney was named offensive coordinator at Texas A&M…Chuck Bullough was named defensive coordinator at Syracuse…Former Abilene Christian and Texas Tech interim head coach Chris Thomsen is going to Arizona State as running backs coach…Former FIU head coach Mario Cristobal is returning to Miami (Fla.) as associate head coach and tight ends mentor…Nick Rolovich remains at Nevada as offensive coordinator after the recent retirement of NFF Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault…Greg Brown is the new secondary coach at Alabama…Ted Roof has been hired as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech…John Butler has been named defensive coordinator at Penn State…Eastern Michigan tabbed veteran coach Stan Parrish as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach…Arkansas State added Julius Brown as cornerbacks coach…UTEP named Patrick Higgins offensive coordinator and Jeff Choate defensive coordinator…Former Arizona assistant Tony Gibson is rejoining the defensive staff at West Virginia, and cornerbacks coach Daron Roberts is not returning for 2013…Former UAB assistant coach Tyson Helton has accepted a position with the Cincinnati Bearcats coaching staff…Jay Boulware is going to Wisconsin as tight ends coach…Ron Cooper has been tabbed as secondary coach at USF…NC State has chosen Bill Nayes as director of football operations and Joe McKillip as assistant director…John Grass is the new offensive coordinator at Jacksonville State…Renaldo Hill is the new cornerbacks coach at Wyoming…Former Missouri assistant coach David Yost appears headed for the Washington State staff…Delaware and Texas A&M-Commerce, among others, continue their national searches for head coaches.

Grand Valley State director of athletics Tim Selgo was featured in a recent USA Today story as having worked previously with both Alabama head coach Nick Saban at Toledo and Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly when Kelly was at Grand Valley State….Ryan Ivey was named AD at Texas A&M-Commerce…Rutgers AD and longtime television executive Tim Pernetti was subject of a recent national profile…Ole Miss AD Ross Bjork was praised for his veteran’s insight as the youngest AD in FBS in a regional publication…Syracuse AD Rob Gross noted an increase in individual contributions to football after the Orange’s New Era Pinstripe Bowl triumph over West Virginia…Northwestern State assistant AD Doug Ireland has been chosen as 2012 Central Louisiana Sportsman of the Year for helping locate the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fae in Natchitoches…LaSalle athletics named Kevin Bonner associate AD…Ohio athletics named Mark LaFrance assistant director of media relations while Minnesota State-Mankato athletics tabbed Nick Burns for the same post…Other recent hires in athletics communications have been Tim Hanson as sports information director at Newman (Kan.), Doug Self as SID at Southwestern Oklahoma State and Alan Popadines as assistant SID at Centenary (N.J.)…UC Davis athletics ticket operations manager Troy Kirby has circulated a story about pricing at college vs. professional sporting events…Rob Bogardus was named associate AD For external operations at Jacksonville U….Utah State trainer Mike Williams was lauded in recent weeks for lifesaving procedures during a basketball workout.

The 100th celebration of the Rose Bowl presented by VIZIO and the Jan. 6, 2014, BCS Championship in Pasadena, Calif., have new celebratory logos…The Football Bowl Association reported that 18 of the 35 post-2012 bowls had attendance increases this season…Winning teams averaged 35.1 points in the 35 2012-13 FBS bowls. Conference breakdowns alphabetically for wins and losses were ACC 4-2, Big East 3-2, Big Ten 1-5, Big 12 4-5, C-USA 4-1, Independents 1-2, MAC 2-5, MWC 1-4, Pac-12 5-4, SEC 6-3, Sun Belt 2-2, and WAC 2-0. The WAC ended football competition at this time with a pair of bowl victories by San Jose State and Utah State as well as seven-game winning streaks by each…After not winning in postseason play from 1993-2010, Baylor is 2-0 in 2011 and ’12 bowl treks under head coach Art Briles.

The ACC Digital Network has launched ACC Live – a weekly studio and highlights program videostreamed with noted hosts and special guests. It also will highlight the ACC topping the NACDA Learfield Directors Cup initial fall standings as a conference…The ACC also released its entire 2013 schedule, and it can be accessed via http://theacc.co/13FB-opponents-0111…Navy plans to retain its commitment as a future member of the Big East Conference while the BEC is awaiting some final word about the its future status from San Diego State athletics…Big East administrators also went over television contract commitments with negotiations from schools hoping to start a new BEC members’ basketball-only circuit…The 2013 Big Ten Conference helmet schedule is now available at fbschedules.com…The Big West Conference is remaining in daily contact with San Diego State and Boise State about their future memberships and football participation…The WAC has added men’s soccer for 2013-14…Missouri is competing in the Mid-American Conference in wrestling after being part of the Missouri Valley, Big Seven-12 for 69 seasons.

The 2012 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl’s 10th anniversary contest between Air Force and Rice as the most watched in that contest’s history with average of 2,584,000 households during the ESPN national telecast.

West Virginia All-America and do-everything WR-SB-KR Tavon Austin has captured the 2012 Paul Hornung Award…QB Rakeem Cato of Marshall led Conference USA in individual total offense with 4,232 yards and a 352.7 average while the loop’s top receiver was the Herd’s Tommy Shuler with 110 catches for 1,138 yards…Recipients of the 2012 NCAA Elite 89 for scholastic and gridiron achievements from fall championship teams are student-athletes FCS Football – Esley Thorton, North Dakota State; DII – Justin Roberts, Valdosta State; Keegan Bragg, St. Thomas (Minn.)…Florida specialist Kyle Christy received the 2012 College Football Performance Awards Punter Trophy in an on-campus presentation last Wednesday…Virginia QB Michael Rocco is transferring to Richmond…The Big Ten Conference had a field day with national individual award winners Wisconsin’s Montee Ball (Doak Walker Award), Penn State’s Matt McGloin (Burlsworth Trophy), Nebraska’s Rex Burkhead Northwestern’s Patrick Ward (NFF National Scholar-Athletes; Burkhead made the AFCA Good Works Team), Michigan’s Patrick Omameh (AFCA Good Works Team), and Penn State Senior Class (joint Thomas Brookshier Spirit Award)…Among the top seniors remaining with their squads and not choosing the professional ranks for 2013 are Alabama QB A.J. McCarron, Arizona RB Ka’Deem Carey, Baylor RB Lache Seastrunk, Boston College LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, Brigham Young LB Kyle Van Noy, and South Carolina DE Jadaveon Clowney, among others…Purdue added midyear signees QB Danny Etling, DE John Strauser and RB David Yancey who will compete in spring football…Iowa State QB Jared Barnett and LB C.J. Morgan will transfer to new schools in ’13.

NFF College Hall of Fame head coach and AFCA executive director Grant Teaff delivered the pregame invocation at the 2013 AT&T Cotton Bowl for a 20th-plus time. He guided Baylor two its two Cotton Bowl Classic appearances as head coach of the Bears…BCS executive director Bill Hancock received the 2012 Oklahoma Regents Alumni Achievement Award…Former Tennessee standout and NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas member Jason Witten earned the coveted 2013 Bart Starr Award for NFL community service…It was a bittersweet time for the Mike Golic family last Monday night at the Discover BCS Championship. His sons Jake and Mike, Jr. played their final college game together after competing on the same teams since grade school days while younger sister Sydney is a member of the 2012-13 Notre Dame swimming and diving team. Mike Golic, Sr., brothers Bob and Greg also starred at Notre Dame…2013 finalists for the sixth annual Davey O’Brien Foundation and Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Scholarships have been denoted as Elizabeth Crowling of Dallas (Texas) Hillcrest HS, Kaitlyn Duda of Hurst L.D. Bell HS, Anna Hansell of Episcopal School of Dallas, Meghann Kasal of Fort Worth Country Day HS, and Dallas Schray of Hebron HS…The PwC SMU Athletic Forum’s and AT&T Luncheons’ 2013 featured speakers’ list includes Southern Miss and NFL quarterback great Brett Favre on April 5 and Youngstown State and NFL standout QB Ron Jaworski Oct. 11 in programs at the Dallas Hilton Anatole.

Kentucky athletics will contribute almost $70 million to a new UK Science Building on the Lexington campus…UK’s Commonwealth Stadium also has a proposed $110 makeover in the works for the near future…Michigan’s Block M official logo earned record dollars for scholarships and operations from rights fees in 2012…Kansas athletics has received a go-ahead California athletics has revealed a new official Bears logo…Wyoming is planning on steaming more live events at Go.Wyo.com…XOS Digital, Inc., will launch the XOS ThunderCloud portfolio, a cloud-based digital media management platform to benefit multiple areas of college athletics, broadcasting and streaming.

The 2012 FWAA All-America team has been denoted, and the complete release is available via http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/news/2012/allamerica130107.html…Legendary New York Daily News’ writer Dick Weiss is the 40th winner of the prestigious Bert McGrane Award annually bestowed on a member of the Football Writers Association of America. He has been a nationally-noted sports reporter and columnist for 30-plus years…Tupelo (Miss.) HS senior Emily Alford has become the 17th recipient of the prestigious FWAA Volney Meece Scholarship. The daughter of longtime FWAA member Parrish Alford of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal will attend Mississippi State in 2013-14…CoSIDA continues its series of conference calls with suggestions and tips for national coverage and maximizing websites…LinkedIn Groups held a national webinar on how to obtain positions in coaching, athletics, sports marketing, and related fields.
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